TALKBACK #13: Godzilla vs. Megalon

[Legion]

This movie is a blast. An utter masterpiece of silly '70s Japanese cinema. One of my favorites! Never get tired of it!!!!

[Shin_Edda_Robo!!!!!]

As far as Godzilla films go, I think it's trash. Only Spacegodzilla and Megaguirus are worse. And anyone saying its "Good", has their nostalgia goggles on too tight. All that said, I think it's an exploitation film for children and that's where it succeeds.

It's trash for sure. But its fun trash. But it's never boring, unlike vs Spacegodzilla, and it moves quick. The high point for certain are the personalities of the monsters without a doubt. Jet Jaguar is the rookie hero. Megalon is dumb muscle. Gigan is classic heel wrestler. And Godzilla is full blown scrappy hero. It's kind of an important film in the series, but for different reasons. I think vs Gigan is a better effort and picture overall. At least they tried better with the stock footage placement. Probably Jun Fukuda's worst film ever. (His best imo are the Ironfinger movies, and vs Mechagodzilla. And his 60s Godzilla films were solid entries.).

I think it's better in English than subbed. Same like with Gigan. Though Gigan beats it out in the dubbing department (classic A-Team dub), though both have Ted Thomas!

[Dr Kain]

Nah, I usually can't make it past the 15 minute mark when it was dubbed. Watching it subbed though, I had no problem sitting through the whole thing.

[Shin_Edda_Robo!!!!!]

That's the thing for me. I find the acting in vs Gigan and vs Megalon to be so horrid that the dub improves it drastically.

Especially vs Gigan.

"You're a hard b*tch..."

"Cigarettes!?"
"They're for YOUU...."

"CHAIRMAN! Godziller has just arrived!"

"The earthlings have escaped!"
"FOOLS!"

[Gman2887]

Dubbed or subbed, it's hard to sit through in a single sitting. I mean, I get enjoyment out of it on a very basic level-- In some sense I enjoy every Godzilla movie. But this one takes a couple of sits to finish. Always has.

[DannyBeane]

[Mysterio]

[Gman2887]

[Legion]

I don't know about him. But I'D rather watch Megalon over most Heisei films. It's not good film-making, but it's more sincere and entertaining than most of those bloated, colorless, by-committee '90s films.

[Benjamin Haines]

This low-budget B-movie, Godzilla vs. Megalon, is more entertaining and fun to watch than any Heisei film except Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah.

[Legion]

[Shin_Edda_Robo!!!!!]

[Garasharp K7]

Well I wasn't overly fond of the flick when I first saw it, so I wouldn't really factor nostalgia in my appreciation of it in later years. I grew to like it more after watching more anime and tokusatsu shows from that period. As it is, the movie feels like an extended episode of Spectreman, Red Baron, Denjin Zaborger or well... Zone fighter, actually.
Overall, While I certainly wouldn't call it a masterpiece, I wouldn't call it trash either. It's a lot of fun, and I might as well jump on the "I enjoy it more than a lot of later films in the series" bandwagon as well, because I do. Perhaps were I to put on some sort of serious objective critic hat and put the film under a microscope I might feel differently, but I won't. To paraphrase Groucho Marx, 'Godzilla vs. Megalon' is like a frog: if you dissect it, it doesn't work.

[Gman2887]

[Benjamin Haines]

"Ironic fun" definitely doesn't factor into my enjoyment of Godzilla vs. Megalon or any other movie, and I really don't get how anyone can enjoy a movie specifically because of perceived flaws. Godzilla vs. Megalon is genuine fun despite its low production values, contrived plot beats, and heavy stock footage. It's a short, quickly paced, and positively zany story, full of wonderfully outlandish sci-fi elements and a cast that does a solid job of carrying it all. The characters are an entertaining bunch consisting of three heroes and three main Seatopians. Jet Jaguar and Megalon are delightful and the arrival of Gigan and Godzilla makes the third act monster brawl an unforgettable tag-team wrestling spectacle. It's a legitimately fun movie and I sincerely enjoy watching it more than any Heisei film other than Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, which has always been one of my top favorites.

[jellydonut25]

I get (and got on my watch last night) equal amounts of pure fun and ironic fun from watching Godzilla vs. Megalon. Am I supposed to find it genuinely fun that a ROBOT actually gets dizzy? I don't think so, but I laugh at that part EVERY time. It's hilarious...a freaking ROBOT gets dizzy from spinning around too much! Hilarious, and I assume unintentionally so.

Likewise, I get a big grin at some of the stuff Jet Jaguar does that I'm pretty sure was SUPPOSED to be humorous, like when he responds to our main characters even though they don't use their sonic wave transmitter or whatever it's called. Fun. Intentionally so, I assume.

This movie is too fun to hate.

[H-Man]

I contend that most of the monsters' antics here are intentionally humorous. Gigan and Megalon laugh at Godzilla's misfortune (Megalon even slaps himself on the butt), Jet Jaguar gets dizzy, Godzilla does some boxing moves, the tail slide, etc. I don't think any of these things were meant to be taken seriously. On the other hand, I'm not convinced bizarre elements like the Seatopian costumes or Goro's explanation for Jet Jaguar's growth spurt were intended to bring laughs. I think those things are pure hokum, so like Jelly I find there's a good mix of ironic and intentional humor here. There's little doubt that it's one of the worst Godzilla movies but despite that (or perhaps because of it) it's one of my five favorites.

[Psycho Soldier]

Megalon is one of my bottom 5 Godzilla movies. I don't hate it, but beyond the monsters and their fights, I find it a chore to sit through. It's probably Fukuda's worst effort of the series, at any rate. It's not as technically ambitious as Gigan or Mechagodzilla, but it's also not as colourful as Sea Monster or SOG. It's visually bland for the most part. I don't care about the humans, and the soundtrack is very much a mixed bag. On a scene by scene basis, I have fun with it at times, but not to the extent that I'd call the movie a favourite. There just isn't enough here to keep my interest.

[Shin_Edda_Robo!!!!!]

The color pallet of this film is kind of bland in comparison to Fukuda's other films. Sea Monster, Son Of Godzilla, and Mechagodzilla are just so bright and colorful. And very brisk too. It isn't that he can't do cool or darker colors either, since I thought E.S.P.Y. was pretty cool. And The Ironfinger movies were somewhere between that (and tons of fun).

The strong point for sure were the monster interactions. Gigan is an a-hole and I think he's great here.

[Hybrid Gojira]

I plan to watch this again soon. It's been years since I've sat through it all. The high point is (obviously) the monster action. I like Megalon and Gigan. The DAM scene is genuinely well done.

But that score...the score just is terrible. It was bad in Hedorah and it's horrible here.

[Benjamin Haines]

[kiryugoji04]

[Gman2887]

[Shin_Edda_Robo!!!!!]

I found Daigoro vs Goliath to be a better children's movie too. Any enjoyment of this movie is mostly from an ironic level. And I still think its a better view through a dub.

I feel there is more energy here than in most of the Heisei films. I also think this movie is hurt from a lack of budget, rather than effort. The 1973 Toho Tokusatsu film is Submersion of Japan, not this movie.

[Benjamin Haines]

I think there's a difference between a kid's movie and a family movie. Son of Godzilla is a family movie while Megalon is most definitely a kid's movie.